Akane in LoveLove
by Quik
Summary: Due to Happosai's magic meddling, Akane becomes more affectionate with Ranma similar to other fiancees we all know and love.


Akane in Love-love 

By Quik

Author's pre-story notes:  I don't like the title but I did enjoy writing this story.  Enjoy!

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Happosai cackled as he emptied his bag of new pretties onto the floor.  Seeing his newly captured horde was second only to feeling up a pretty lady.  The mound grew with the rustle of lace and satin sending tears of joy to his eyes.  And as he shook the final contents to the floor, the bag shift weight just before a clank hit the floor.  

The sound was enough to peak his curiosity and douse his pervertedness for a moment.  

Throwing the bag aside, he dug through the pile in front of him, letting a bit of himself enjoy the feeling before finding a weighty object covered in a dark red cloth.  

Happosai turned the packet over, hummed, then lit his pipe before further scrutiny.  The cloth was tied together at the top in a small knot, which was easily undone.  Happosai's effort revealed a bowl.  He turned it over in his hand.  Slightly odd shape, too big to be a rice bowl, too small for a serving bowl, with a fading pink color.  Cracks formed in the glaze coating, giving what was a solid color patterns of dark and light.  At one time it was probably a very vibrant pink but time had a way of changing things.

There could be only one place where he must have snagged this little innocent bowl.  It was a brief period, as most of his journeys were, while passing through a small village in China.  The owner was a very kind and busty young woman, recently married.  Not wanting to waste such an obvious treasure trove of goodies, he had emptied the entire contents of the drawer into his bag.  The nice lady must have hidden it in the back and he never noticed as he made a quick exit.  She had quite a swing for someone so small.

Now why would someone hide this one small bowl somewhere in hopes no one would find it?

Happosai, gleeful laughed at his new toy and possible futures.  Who knew what this could do?  Maybe it would give him super strength?  Or make him young again?  Maybe it would produce pretties at will?

Scenarios running through his mind came to a screeching halt as he saw characters inked on the inside of red wrapping cloth.  As he looked over the writings a smile grew.

You know, it had been a while since he paid a visit to his two students.  Maybe it was time to see how they, and more importantly, their children were doing.

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Akane swung again at her fast moving target who side-stepped clear of the punch.  Sweat was rolling down her brow and frustration was building high.  She tried a high kick, which was dodged by a lean back.  Akane quickly followed by a low sweep, trying to knock down her unbalanced sparing partner.  But the lean back changed into a backwards somersault, away from her attack.

Akane stepped back and waited for a return volley of punches and kicks.  Her partner just stared at the youngest Tendo sister.  Akane growled then charged, "Come on, Ranma!  Attack me!"

Ranma jumped over the all out attack, hands in his pockets, "I can't believe you talked me into this."

Akane turned to look at him in irritation, "Why won't you attack?"

Ranma saw Akane take a relaxed stance and followed suit by leaning against the dojo wall.  "I told you, I don't hit girls."

"Don't give me that line.  I've seen you fight against girls before."  Akane tilted her head a little, eyes softened with a thought.  "I won't break, Ranma.  You can hit me.  I can take it."

Ranma squished a thought that was whispering 'cute', it was probably the same troublemaker which got him into this mess, and stuck with his usual response, "Yeah, with your weight and brute force, I'm sure you could."

Akane's whole body went ridged and the angry frown was in full force.  With effort she managed not to pound him into the ground.  She wanted some answers first.  Then maybe she would pound him.  "OK, fine.  So if you think I can take it, then why don't you attack me?"

Ranma just shrugged as he stared at the floor.  Akane didn't want to accept that as an answer, for some reason it wasn't good enough anymore.  "Ranma, how can I get to be a better marital artist if you don't fight back?"

There was a long uncomfortable silence as Akane stared down Ranma who would not meet her gaze.

"Akane!  Ranma!  Lunch!" called Kasumi from the house.

Ranma took his cue and bolted out the door, leaving Akane with no answer.  She sighed, picked up her towel to wipe the sweat off her face and bury all the fears produced by Ranma's silent answer.  

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"Akane!  Ranma!  Lunch!" Happosai heard Kasumi's sweet voice from downstairs.  Bowl in hand, Happosai bounded to the kitchen.  Ah, miso soup.  Perfect.

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Ranma almost took out the table in his efforts to get fast and far away from Akane.  He came to a screeching halt just in time then flopped down to his seat.

*What is with Akane?  Stupid girl.  First she asks to spar with me, I still don't know why I ever agreed.  Then she starts asking me all these questions about why I won't punch back.  Can't a guy not want to hit his fiancée?*

As Ranma grumbled to himself, the rest of the family slowly filtered into the dining room, Akane being last.  Ranma kept a half eye on her.  She was probably mad and he might be able to save his hide by keeping a watch on her.  But her head was slightly bowed and no glare of death made its way to him.  It made Ranma more uncomfortable than her usual ramrod ridged anger.

Akane sat down in her usual seat, next to Ranma, and spared him not one look.  Ranma opened his mouth to make a comment, when cold water splashed him.

"What the…?" Ranma cleared her eyes of water to see Happosai throw a glass behind him into the kitchen.  "Whatcha do that for, you old pervert?"

"Ah, Ranma my sweet.  Come share a bowl of soup with your master."  Happosai jumped towards Ranma, bowl drawn back to force feed the newly made girl.

"No way!"  Ranma defended herself by a high sweep kick.  Happosai easily dodged and landed on her shoulders.  "Get off me!"

Ranma made a grab for the old master to throw him to the floor.  The combination of her reaching back and Happosai leaping to safety killed her balance.  Ranma fell, knocking over a good portion her lunch all over herself, including the hot tea.

"Damn it," growled Ranma back in his male form.

Happosai landed smoothly to the ground, twirling the dish in hand while giving Ranma a dirty look, "Ranma, how dare you undo my hard work!"

"Stuff it and your soup too, you old goat!" Ranma lashes out a kick in hopes to up set Happosai's precarious hold.  The kick landed perfectly, snapping the bowl back and straight on to the head of Akane.

The whole earth seemed to pause as drips of cooling soup ran down Akane's cheeks.  Her expression was hidden by the edge of the bowl.  She sat there stiffly before piercing her lips then swallowing.

Happosai blinked once, then ran to her with open arms.  "Oh, Akane!  Your bosom may be small compared to Ranma-chan's but they're still quite nice.  Come to your sweet Happi!"

He never saw the punch she landed on him, nor the kick Ranma gave him from behind.  Happosai spiraled through the roof, disappearing in the distance.  Akane's movement caused the bowl on her head to upset and clatter to the floor.  She kept her eyes shut as she fumbled for her napkin to wipe the muck off her face.

Ranma knew he was going to get it but still had to make sure she was all right, "Uh, Akane?"

"Ranma…." Akane growled in her low menacing voice that promised much pain.  She turned to face him, their eyes met and she came to a complete halt.  Ranma saw the anger drop away instantly to be replaced with...something he didn't quite recognize.  Especially coming from Akane.

"Ranma?" Akane whispered huskily.

Ranma felt nervous jitters run through his body.  "Wha…ACK!"

Akane leaped the whole one-foot to Ranma using her full force of leg muscles.  The tackle would have made any football coach proud.  It was enough to send them both crashing to the floor.

"Oh, Ranma sweetie!  Thank you so much for rescuing me from that evil little man!" Akane started doing acrobatic tricks to press her body as close to Ranma as possible.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?" Ranma screamed, managing to retch Akane off of him and sit up.  He pushed her away far enough so he could look in her eyes and saw a mark on her forehead.  It was faint, almost like a blush of skin but it was in a pattern of two hearts overlapping.  The whole family watched in shock as Akane grabbed Ranma again and started to snuggle up a second time.

"Oh, Ranma, don't let me go.  It's so comfortable here."  Akane slid her body up Ranma's a little causing him to loose his last thought of why he was trying to pry Akane off of him.  "Don't you think?"

Distantly, Ranma heard their fathers rejoicing over the family united before the dry voice of Nabiki said, "Get a room you two, " then splashed cold water on them both.

Ranma felt Akane stiffen a second after the water hit them.  Akane pushed herself off of the other girl quickly.  Her eyes were confused for a moment then took in the situation.  Immediately anger took control and with a side punch, planted Ranma into the wall.

"You pervert!  What do you think you're doing?" Akane yelled at the red head who was dazed more by the entire turn of events than the punch to the head.

"Oh, my Akane.  What's that on your forehead?" Kasumi asked as she lifted Akane's dark blue bangs.

Nabiki peered over Kasumi's shoulder, "Hey, that looks like two hearts.  Uh, oh."

"Uh, oh?" echoed Akane with worry.

Nabiki picked up the odd pink bowl on the floor by Akane and flipped it over.  "Just a second.  I've got an idea."

Nabiki walked back to the kitchen as Ranma managed to pull herself free from the wall.  

"Ow, my head.  What happened?" Ranma asked as she held her head.  Nabiki walked back into the room with a steaming kettle in hand.  

"Hey, thanks, Nabiki," Ranma's eyes narrowed in mistrust.  "How much is this going to cost me?"

"Oh, dear brother-in-law, consider this a freebie."  Nabiki dumped the hot water over the red head.

"Hot!  Hot!  ACK!"  Again Akane threw herself into Ranma's arms.

"Oh, Ranma-sweetie.  Where did you go?  I missed you so much."  Akane rubbed her face against Ranma's chest.

Nabiki quickly followed with a cold glass of water over Ranma's head before her sister went too far.

Once again Akane came to a snap halt and pulled away from Ranma who was looking at Akane like her fiancée was a cat.  Akane found anger was easier to deal with than all the strange emotions of having Ranma so close to her.  Giving into the fiery emotion, Akane lashed out a punch, striking Ranma into the wall again.

Nabiki just nodded at the events, "Yupe, just what I thought."  

"Oh, my, Nabiki.  Do you know why Akane suddenly likes boys?"  Kasumi asked.

"My little girl has finally grown into a woman," sobbed Mr. Tendo as Genma patted his friend's shoulder.

"Dad!"  Akane gave her father a warning glare that he was embarrassing one of his daughters.

"Not quite, daddy.  It seems Happosai is dabbling into his magic items again."  Nabiki flipped the bowl over to towards the family as Ranma extracted himself from the wall.  There was small lettering on the bottom of the bowl that read "CHINESE AMAZON MADE, EMPEROR TESTED AND APPROVED"

"Apparently Happosai wanted Ranma's female side to have a sip from this bowl but Akane ended up swallowing some.  And since she first laid eyes on Ranma, she's been lusting after him."

"What?  Me?  Lust over him?  No way!"  Akane shouted.  Ranma shot up at that with a frown on his face.

Genma rubbed his chin in thought, "Ah, so it's like a baby chick when it first hatches and attaches itself to the first person it sees."

Ranma pointed at Akane, "Oh, like I enjoy being strangled by some uncute tomboy every time I'm a guy only to be punched every time I change into a girl."

Nabiki nodded her head at Genma, "Exactly."

Akane's eyes flashed as she stood menacingly over Ranma, "Strangled?  I'll show you strangled."

Akane started to chase Ranma around the table as Soun asked, "So how long will this last?"

Nabiki shrugged, "Who knows?"

"Happosai might," Kasumi offered.

Ranma came to an abrupt halt causing Akane to crash into her, "That's right.  The old pervert did this, he might know a way to undo it."

Ranma leaped out of the house and then to the roof tops, leaving Akane in the backyard yelling after the red head, "Get back here, Ranma.  I'm not done with you yet!"

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It took a while to find the old pervert but Ranma merely had to find the screeches of indignant women to find Happosai.  Making a quick gender change to avoid being groped, Ranma hoped over the rooftops until he was within striking distance.  Happosai was looking into a bedroom when Ranma made his attack.  With a quick leap, Happosai jumped to the streets below, avoiding the blow, which sent splinters of roof raining to the ground.

Happosai sighed realizing Ranma was going to be difficult and pulled out his pipe for a smoke just in case, "Something you want, Ranma?"

Ranma landed a few feet from the old master.  Happosai had to admit, the boy looked pretty upset.

"Yeah, you old freak.  I want the cure to whatever curse you placed on Akane."

"What, Ranma my lad, don't you like your fiancées all hot for ya?"

"Not Akane!  That tomboy doesn't know the first thing about being sexy!"

Ranma sixth sense alerted him to danger just in time as he jumped to the side, narrowly dodging a swinging signpost.

"I heard that Ranma!"

"Akane?"  Ranma questioned since she stood before him, blindfolded and sporting the stop sign on her shoulder in case it was needed again.

"Perceptive as usual, Ranma."  Drawled Nabiki as she stepped out from behind Akane.  

"What the heck are you doing here?" Ranma asked.

Akane huffed, "I'm trying to get a cure.  That's what."

Happosai piped up at that.  "Cure?  You think I want to cure that?" he pointed over at Akane.

Ranma felt a cold touch run down his spine, "You mean there's no cure?"

"Oh, I'm sure there might be in this instruction manual."  Happosai waved a red scrap of cloth at Ranma.

"What?  Give that here ya old goat!"  Ranma made a wild grab for the cloth of which Happosai easily side dodged.

"Toro!  Toro!  Come get it, Ranma!"  Happosai taunted.

Ranma made for another swipe and Happosai leaped away easily to the fence top with a devilish cackle.  The two played a cat and mouse like game until Happosai made a fatal error.

Happosai yanked the cloth just out of reach from the young martial artist as he called out to him, "Come on, Ranma!  I've seen stones move faster than, URK!"

Akane pulled her sign back up, scrapping off the old master splattered against the lettering, "Stop fooling around!  I need that cure!"

Happosai rubbed his head briefly as Ranma stood in disbelief that the tomboy manage to hit the pervert while blindfolded and avoided smacking him in the process.  

"Oh, come now Akane.  Don't be so shy!"  Happosai leaped to Akane and ripped free the blindfold.  Snuggling between Akane's breasts, Happosai looked up with joyous tears in his eyes, "So whatcha think of me now…erk!"

Akane's temple punch sent the master to the pavement, "You're still a pervert!"

There was a long pause as a heavy breathing Akane stared down at Happosai, just waiting for him to twitch so she would have an excuse to pound him again.  No one made a move as both Nabiki and Ranma waited for Akane to enter her Shampoo-like Ranma craze.

When nothing happened for a minute, Ranma asked Nabiki, "Is she OK?"

Akane's head snapped up at the sound of his voice.  The two hearts on her forehead flashed briefly before her eyes took on a dulled glow.

"Uh, oh," was all Ranma could say before a bundle of female came bounding over to him yelling, "Ranma-sweetie!"

Ranma, not use to this overly familiar Akane, paused for a second too long.  Enough that the female martial artist managed to wind herself around Ranma and press her cheek up against his chest.  

All of Ranma's instincts, which were well beaten into him…literally, said the same thing, /Warning:  Death imminent.  Please evacuate the area./

"AH!!"  Ranma struggles free, dropping a confused Akane to pavement before booking it down the road.

Akane watched as her precious run away from her in terror, then she smiled excitedly, "Ranma-sweetie come back!"

"Apparently she's not."  Nabiki sighed as she watched the two disappear around the corner.  Nabiki glanced at the old master to see Akane had trampled him in her efforts to get to Ranma, leaving Happosai quite incapacitated.  This left a very opportune moment for Nabiki, of which she planned to capitalize on.  Finding a red corner peeking out of Happosai's uniform, Nabiki tugs the instruction manual free from the trampled Happosai.  Her eyes scan the cloth briefly and frowns for a moment before an evil smile slowly spreads across her lips.

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Ranma cursed the fact that his fiancée ran every morning as it was getting hard to keep away from the crazy chick.  He needed to get to safety but Akane was too close to lose her.  So what the heck was he going to do?

"Come on, Ranma, think, think…" he muttered to himself when it hit him.  Water.  Cold water.  And now, before Akane caught him.

Ranma searched the ground for a possible puddle splash but the weather was apparently too dry of late to leave something for easy access.  Fine, there was a river up ahead, that would work.

Ranma put on an extra burst of speed to the bridge.  As he was about to make a jump to the water below, he caught himself in time to see the river was dry.

"WHAT?!"  He glanced around seeing a sign claiming construction.  "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Ranma-sweetie!  Wait up!"  Akane called.

"Crap!"  Ranma took off again.  There was one last stable flow of water.  One that nailed him every morning.  

Turning towards the Tendo home, Ranma paused at one house.  Nothing.  Ranma stepped back, then took a step forward.  Nothing.  Then Ranma took a couple of steps back, began to whistle nonchalantly, turning his view away from the little house and walked in front of the gate a third time.  Nothing.  Apparently the little old lady wasn't home.

Ranma wanted to scream in frustration.  "Where are you when I actually need you?"

"Ranma-sweetie!"  

Ranma decided to try his last option, the Tendo koi pond.  He felt the breeze of a barely missed hand from landing on his shoulder as he passed through the main gate.  Wasting no time in considering his close call, Ranma headed around the house and was about to jump the last five feet when his legs were tackled from behind.  Both Ranma and Akane rolled to a stop in front of the koi pond.

"Gotcha!"  Akane giggled, sitting up but keeping most of her weight on Ranma.  "That was fun!"

Akane's eyes deepen in color as she leaned in closer to Ranma saying, "But enough with the foreplay."

Akane bent her head down and Ranma could only look at her with pinpoint pupils.  Her lips moved closer and closer with each second.  Just as her breath became his, Akane changed direction, landing softly on Ranma's neck.

Ranma sucked in a breath, as he never expected something so simple to feel so good.  Some part of his brain tells him to stop her, to struggle against it.  But another stronger voice began to analyze the whole situation.

Akane wasn't strangling him like Shampoo.  Granted Akane did put some wrestling moves on him before but now this was all soft and sweetness, very unlike the dominance Shampoo tried to hold over him.

Also it didn't give him the 'icky' shivers that he felt every time Ukyo tried something.  He had to admit, Ukyo's advances were nice albeit sometimes scary considering he thought Ukyo was a childhood MALE friend for quite a long time.  But the flirtatious words and the attempted seduction always left him feeling something wasn't right.  And not just the knowledge Akane was going to kill him when she found out.

This kissing was gentle but demanding.  Each contact sent sparks and tingles shooting along his spine then bursting into warmth all along his body as Akane moved up his neck placing soft kisses.

He couldn't move.  Hell, he could hardly breathe.  Could he be enjoying this?

Akane pulled in closer, wrapping her arms around Ranma while moving her kisses up Ranma's jaw line with a small moan.

The world was quickly disappearing around Ranma and the need to do SOMETHING was pounding in his brain.  

It was then that a third voice in the turmoil spoke up.  /She's under a spell, she doesn't have control and you're taking advantage.  You're being the pervert she always calls you./

"Ranma-sweetie?"  Akane questions him, her eyes half shut, lips slightly parted.  Ranma stared at those lips for a long time before leaning his head towards them.

A glowing symbol of two overlapping hearts on her forehead made him pause.  /She trusts you and you're taking advantage of her.  You're no better than Ryoga.  No better than your father./

Ranma felt the world rock back to solid ground breaking through the haze.  He pushed her away, throwing himself into the pond before he listened anymore to the voice he knew was wrong.  The voice that wanted to continue, to take advantage, to savor her kiss on his lips and more.

Akane blinked a few times, wondering how she got to her backyard.  The last thing she remembered clearly was being with Nabiki and they had just found Ranma and Happosai.  Pieces filtered in and then it hit her that she must have been under the spell again.  A breeze flitted easily between Akane's rumpled clothing, causing her to shiver.  She looked down at her misplaced clothes.  Heat radiated from her face from embarrassment and anger.

Luckily for Ranma's well being, Nabiki had explained to Akane the situation as they tracked down Ranma and Happosai earlier.  Akane glanced at the soaking wet Ranma.  The red head's lip turned in disgusted and shaking fists clenched at her side as she took deep breathes of cool air.  Akane didn't want to think what she had done to make Ranma so upset.  Granted, her first reaction was to beat him into a pulp, but the look on her fiancée's face was making Akane worried and guilt-ridden.

"Ranma..." she began quietly to apologize but was having a hard time finding the right words.  'Sorry for seducing you' just didn't sound right.

Ranma sighed loudly as if defeated.  The red head kept her eyes down, staring at the water, "Go ahead, Akane.  Hit me and get it over with."

Akane visibly jumped in shock, "What?!"

"I know your going to hit me for this.  So go on and do it!"

"You WANT me to hit you?!"

"Well, it's better than what you WERE doing."

Akane's breath caught.  "Oh, I see.  You have so many fiancées to choose from, why would you want an uncute tomboy like me to do…that stuff?"

"Wait…that's not what I meant," Ranma looked up then and tried to wave away Akane's anger to explain herself better.  

But her fiancée ignored Ranma's protests.  Akane stood up, pulling out the mallet.  "Well, why don't you go and find one of your cute fiancées?"  Her voice broke a little on the word cute.

Akane meant to hit Ranma.  Ranma even looked ready for it, eyes squeezed tight, body hunched down for the blow but she couldn't even see the red head through the tears piled in her eyes.  Her arms drew back an inch to make the swing anyways.  But her anger wavered, then dropped completely away along with her mallet to the crushing hurt.

Akane turned and ran to the house.

Ranma looked up when there was no pain.  Akane was running away without hitting her.  

/Why?/  Ranma felt she certainly deserved it.  Especially after all her hentai thoughts, but Akane didn't punish her.  A muffled sob from Akane clearly sounded in the backyard, piercing Ranma's confusion.

"Wait!  Akane!" Ranma called to her but Akane paid no heed.

Ranma pulled herself out of the koi pond and bounded into the house.  However, all she caught was a glimpse of Akane's yellow skirt as it disappeared through her bedroom door.

Ranma pounded on the door.  "Akane!  I said wait!  I want to talk to you!"

No answer.  Ranma sighed and leaned against the door in defeat.  "Damn it."

"Well, Ranma, I can see you've been busy."  Nabiki teased knowing little of what had happened but made a few easy guesses.

Ranma gave Nabiki a tired, annoyed look, "Is there something you want, Nabiki?"

"I'm always open to free donations.  But by the look of things, especially your wallet of late, I don't think that's an option.  However,"  Nabiki pulls a scrap of red fabric from her pocket, "I am willing to set up payment plans."

Ranma turned his eyes to the floor and in a low weary voice said, "Look, Nabiki, I don't care.  As long as that thing has a cure.  Dress me up in girls clothes, have me pose nude for pictures, whatever.  I just want to get my old Akane back."

Nabiki's devilish grin faded at Ranma's lack of enthusiasm.  Usually when she would goad him for money he would at least grimace, possibly protest.  This was so unlike him.  Akane and his little spat must have been pretty bad.  Nabiki actually felt a little sorry for Ranma.  She studied the red head for a couple of seconds then a softer smile took form on her lips.

"Hmmm, as tempting as those may be, I think I'll just give your Christmas present a little early this year.  If that's OK with you?"

A corner of Ranma's lips turned up, "That would be nice."

"Yes, so don't expect this to happen again anytime soon."  Nabiki waved a finger in his face as if to ward off the thought.  "Remember, Christmas is just once a year.  Now come on, let's go sit someplace little more comfortable."

Nabiki dragged Ranma to the bathroom and sprayed her with hot water before dragging him down to her room.  She tossed him a towel then sat at her desk chair.  After rubbing down as best he could, Ranma plopped down to the floor.

"So what do I have to do?  Climb some impossible mountain for a rare flower?  Fight a dragon?  Beat some ultra powerful martial artist in a battle to the death?" Ranma asked, becoming more and more animated with the possibilities.

"Nope.  Just satisfy her lust."

Ranma dropped to the floor like a stone for a few seconds before popping back up.  "You've got to be kidding me.  There has to be some mistake."

Nabiki shrugged, "Well, the instruction manual isn't exactly in Japanese so the meaning could be a little off but I'm pretty sure the direct translation is 'satisfy her lust'."

"What kind of pervert makes a stupid bowl like this?" grumbled Ranma.

"From what I translated, it's for arrange marriages.  I'm sure you're very familiar with this subject but arranged marriages are not based on love.  The purpose of the bowl is to bring the couple closer together.  If one partner can 'satisfy the lust' of the other partner, then the marriage has a better chance of survival, and producing heirs I might add.  The spell is broken when such a condition is met."

Nabiki watched as the task set before Ranma started to sink in, and he paled a couple of shades while his cheeks turned flaming red.  "Kind of ironic don't you think?  You and Akane getting mixed up in this mess?" 

"Yeah, ironic," repeated Ranma hollowly.

"Don't worry Ranma.  You don't have to go 'all the way' with Akane.  A simple kiss will solve all of your problems."

"Just a kiss?" Ranma seemed to gain some of his confidence back.

"Yupe, just a kiss.  Akane doesn't have much…experience we'll say.  Therefore a kiss should do the job, but it's got to be good."

Nabiki expected some ego swelled remark about his abilities in that particular field but Ranma looked a little unsure of himself.  On some level it was kind of cute.

Nabiki waved a dismissive hand at Ranma, "Well, go for it, lover-boy."  

Ranma glared at Nabiki for the comment, however, it didn't faze Nabiki.  "You could just poke Akane's eyes out.  That would solve the problem, too."

"Nabiki!"

"Hey, just giving you all the options."

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Akane hiccupped again.  Her sobs long since stopped but her emotions were still throbbing heavily on her heart like a sore tooth.

He really wanted that cure.  Right from the beginning.  He didn't want to be close to her like she had seen Shampoo and Ukyo liberally do to him over this past year.  He didn't want her to be near him.  He didn't want her to touch him.  

Not that she wanted to.  

Akane sighed to herself, /Who're you kidding?/  Her heart would always jump and pick up pace whenever he stood near her.  The time he came close to kissing her in the play, she prayed he wouldn't see how much the possibility affected her.  The whole bit of 'Can't you just pretend?' did come from a wounded part of herself responding to Ranma rejecting her.  His eyes lost their fear and doubt in that moment and Akane wanted nothing more than for him to kiss her right then and there.

That's when she heard the cry of their fathers cheering Ranma on.  That's when the realization the ENTIRE school was watching this moment.  Her heart stopped for a second in fear.  She quickly taped up his lips and afterwards saw his disappointed look.  Akane tried to hide her embarrassment of her own lack of courage under a pretense of a joke.  Sticking her tongue out at him after the 'kiss' and teasing him on the way home.

Was this rejection of her any different than her rejection of him?  Or was it a response to how she had treated him?  Or did he really not feel the same thrill as her whenever she was close to him?  All the questions left her mind spinning in place and no answer stopped the pain clenching her heart.  

From outside, Ranma approached Akane's window in male form as if it was a den of cats.  His mind working on a mantra to convince himself to go through with the plan.  Hanging over the edge of the roof, Ranma looked in and saw Akane kneeling at her bed.  No doubt she had been crying from the redness around her eyes.  Guilt bit sharply into him.  His ill chosen words had done that.  

Akane's head snapped up as the house creaked slightly under Ranma's movement.  For a split second Ranma saw the hurt in her eyes before the magic swirled it away.

The change was almost instantaneous.  Akane squealed in joy and ran over to the window.  Practically hopping up and down with glee to see him there, Akane unlocked the window and took a step back to allow Ranma room to get in.  

Ranma frowned slightly at Akane's high-spirited demeanor.  /Akane is never this happy to see me normally./

Ranma pushed the thought to the side.  For now, there were more important things to think about.  /Alright, Ranma, all ya have ta do is kiss her.  Right?  Nabiki said it should satisfy the spell./

With an internal nod, Ranma swung into Akane's room.  Before he could turn around to close the window, Akane leap onto him, hugging him with all her worth.

"Hey!  Cut that out!"  Ranma breaks Akane's hold on him and puts her at arms length.

Akane tilted her head at Ranma's strange behavior, "Is that not why you came here, Ranma-sweetie?"  Then she smiled seductively, "Or did you want to play some more?"

Ranma felt his face go tomato red at the thoughts of what happened earlier today.  /Stop thinking those thoughts!  It's not helping!/  But at the same time, isn't that what he was here to do?

Shaking off the jitters, Ranma released his hold on Akane hoping the little extra distance would help him calm down.  He began to try to explain clearly his business while at the same time convince himself that it was nothing.  It's just a simple little kiss.  No big deal.

With a deep breath, Ranma said, "OK, Akane.  I'm gonna kiss ya."

"Oh, Ranma-sweetie!  I'm so happy!"  Akane clasped her hands under her chin as her eyes shone brightly with pure joy.

Ranma paused for a second in her large dark eyes, then kicked himself to continue his explanation.  "Now don't go getting the wrong idea and start thinkimmhmph..."

Her lips pressed fully on his blew away Ranma's entire reasoning and explanation like ashes in the wind.  Akane took full advantaged of the shocked Ranma.  She pulled her body in close to his, parting her lips slightly to invite him in.

As the initial shock wore off, Ranma found his body automatically taking over as his brain jumped ship leaving only room for his pounding heart.  His right arm snaked around her waist while his left hand reached up and cupped her face before trailing back to sink his fingers into her soft hair.  

The need for air forced Ranma to withdraw, however, Ranma found his lips unwilling to leave Akane's and stole several butterfly kisses before pulling back to look at her.  

His breath was short but heavy, almost gasping for air.  Something incredible had just happened and he couldn't for the life of him catch his breath.  He was shaking on some wonderful high that this girl before him induced.  "Akane…"

"Oh, Ranma-sweetie…"

With his emotions dosed by the words, Ranma was able to better assess the situation.  He pole-axed as he saw two hearts glow mere inches from his eyes.

/Oh, no.  I kissed her.  It didn't work…/

Akane leaned forward again, expecting Ranma to continue where he left off.

/That must mean…/

Ranma leaped out of Akane's embrace and tore out of her room with a sonic boom down the hall.

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Nabiki was comfortably laying on her stomach reading a magazine with happy thoughts of fortune when Ranma busted into her room, quickly closing and locking the door behind him.  His wild eyes and gasping breath told her that things were going to be interesting.  That and she could hear her little sister calling for him on the other side of the door.

"Oh, my God, Nabiki!  It wasn't enough!"

Oh, yes.  This was going to be quite amusing.  "Excuse me?"

"I kissed her, like you said."

"Well, way to go Casanova.  I'm sure Akane was thrilled."

"No, no, that's not it."

"You mean you screwed it up and she didn't like it?"

"No, that's not what I mean."

"Oh, so go kiss her again if it wasn't enough."

Akane's voice broke through again, calling for Ranma while starting to knock on the door.  Ranma's eyes looked a little more wild, like prey about to be snatched up in a predator's grip, as he leaned his back into the door and dug his heels into the floor to keep the door closed.  

"No, I…"

Nabiki's eyebrow raised, "You don't want to kiss her again?"

Ranma was flustered for a few moments, "I...I...it doesn't matter what I want, damn it!  The kiss didn't break the spell!  You said if I satisfied her lust it would break the spell.  You suggested kissing her, I did.  It didn't work!  And now I think she wants…" Ranma gulped loudly and gave a fearful look at the door rattling in its hinges  "more."

Nabiki tilted her head to the side slightly, placing a finger to her lips in thought.  "Satisfy her lust?  Did I say that?"

Ranma recognized the move as feigned innocence and glared at Nabiki, "Yes…"

"Oh, I'm sorry Ranma.  That's a poor translation on my part.  It really says something more along the line of 'complete her greatest desire'."

There was a long pause as Ranma's face flushed.  "Alright, so I kissed her.  Why is she still under the spell?"

Nabiki blinked twice before giving a short laugh, "Wait, Ranma.  You think her 'greatest desire' is to kiss you?"

Ranma blushed hard at that but kept his eyes to the ground as he toed the carpet.

"Wow, Ranma.  I knew you had an ego but REALLY…"  Nabiki giggled at Ranma's expense then picked up her drink from the night stand and dosed Ranma.  She then shooed him away from the door before whipping it open to a startled Akane.  

"Akane, would you mind leaving my door in one piece?"

Akane blinked a few times to re-orientate herself then quickly apologized.  "I'm sorry, Nabiki.  I'm not sure why…"

Akane's eyes caught a glimpse of the red-head martial artist who looked ready to bolt at the first sign of her love bug madness.  The dark emotions Akane felt earlier drove into her gut and she quickly looked away.

Nabiki gently pushed her sister back down the hall.  "Yes, well.  That's quite alright.  Why don't we have a quick little chat while Ranma here gets cleaned up?"  

Nabiki paused for a second so Akane would be out of ear shot when she said, "Meet me back here at 8 pm.  I'll let you know what you have to do then."

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Ranma sighed as he sunk deep into the furo.  The heat of the water doing little to ease the tension he felt through out his whole body.  Let alone stop his thoughts whirling around in his head.

He could only hope that Nabiki would figure something out and this time give him the right answer.  But what would that truth be this time?  The last one was something he thought was impossible.  But when it happened, when they kissed….

Ranma pushed that thought away before he grew too red with embarrassment.  He shifted his weight in the water and looked toward the future possibilities.

So, he was to fulfill Akane's 'greatest desire'?  Just what the heck was that anyways?  What could that tomboy possibly want?

Ranma watched as a scene folded out before him.  A quiet, warm summer night.  A charming restaurant.  A candle lit dinner for two.  Her in a red summer dress that made her look so cute.  And him in a neck brace as Akane strangled him in her loving choke hold.  Distant battle cries and voices of jealousy raged toward them as all the other fiancées and foes raced forward with the full intent to kill him.

Ranma shook his head to remove such thoughts but his mind quickly jumped to a gathering of all his friends.  It was strange to call them all friends as every one of them sent dark burning slits of angry eyes at him.  Akane gives him a sweet smile as he stands before the group and denounces all engagements but to Akane.  Akane in her excitement crushes him in a hug before all the other ex-fiancees (and his other 'friends') step forward to kill him.

Grabbing his head at the thought of surviving that massacre, his mind leaps to the Tendo dining room.  Akane walking from the kitchen with a smoking bowl of…something.  Ranma plasters a smile on his face as she sets the extra large super sized dinner directly in front of him.  It growls as he lifts the lid.  Condensed steam drops to the table leaving small acid burns in their wake.  Akane smiles and tells him to eat up.  With lips twitching, trying desperately to hold to that pleased grin, Ranma picks up his chopsticks.  He can only pray that his other fiancées will show up to kill him.

Ranma felt his stomach spasm just in thought of eating Akane's cooking and *pretending* to like it.

Is the pain and suffering really worth it?  Is she so bad as she is now?  His body was already working on a defense mode at the first whispers of 'Ranma-sweetie'.  He could live with occasional stranglings.  Hell, he was living through that now with all his other affectionate fiancées.  It was a better chance of a survival rate than Akane's 50/50 extreme stomachache versus death.  And that was at her best.

But…that flash of hurt in her eyes earlier.  The sadness and guilt in them at Nabiki's doorway.  Ranma never wanted to see that again.  He couldn't sit around knowing she was in any sort of pain.  Especially if there was something he could do about it.

With a sigh to himself, knowing he was about to willingly leap into a world of hurt, Ranma rose out of the furo to ready himself for Nabiki's meeting.

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Ranma lightly rapped on Nabiki's half open door.  The middle Tendo sister applied the final coat of nail polish to her thumb before looking up at Ranma as he shut the door.  Ranma meekly sat down on the floor and Nabiki noted how cowed Ranma had gotten.  

Maybe he'll pull this one off and not screw up too badly, Nabiki thought to herself.

Ranma sighed, readying himself for the worst, "So now what?  What do I have to do to get Akane back to normal?"

Nabiki smiled in a slightly amused reassurance, "Well, it's good news.  I know you were hoping to have to defeat some god-like martial artist to get Akane cured.  But instead you have to beat up my little sister.  That'll be 2,000 yen for my time."

"What?!"

Nabiki frowned.  "Oh, is the price too high?  I know you're broke but geez, you wouldn't believe all the emotional stuff I had to deal with."

Ranma shook his head, "No, I meant about Akane."

"Oh, yes.  You have to beat her up."  Nabiki pulled out her calculator.  "How about 1,500 yen?  I'm sure you can afford that."

"What do you mean I have to 'beat her up'?"

Nabiki threw her hands up in the air, "Geez, Ranma.  You're the martial artist.  I would think you know how to do this."

"I'm not beating her up!  That can't possibly be her 'greatest desire'!"

"Well, unfortunately for you, my dear Ranma, Akane has quite the masochistic side to her."

"Maso-what?" Ranma tried to twist the strange word around his tongue.

"Look, never mind the joke.  You have to fight her in the dojo.  I've already set a time.  She'll meet you out there at 9 am tomorrow."

Ranma folded his arms in what was most definitely a stubborn stance, "Nabiki, there is no way in hell I'm going to fight Akane."

"Oh, why not?  I thought you wanted her back to normal."

"I do but…"  Ranma let out a frustrated sigh, then muttered to himself, "There has to be some other way to fix this.  Maybe the ol' mummy has something."

"Please, Ranma.  Like you can trust Cologne for a cure.  She hasn't been straight with cures or answers since you met her.  Trust me on this.  If you fight my sister, the spell will break and BAM, good ol' angry mallet wielding Akane."

Ranma continued to frown but he didn't protest further.  Nabiki took what she could get.  Besides, she was plain worn out after talking with her little sister.  "Great.  Then it's settled.  I'll see you tomorrow morning, 9 am."

Ranma took the clue that Nabiki wanted him out of her room and slowly stood up to leave.  He paused in front of the door for a moment before finally making his exit.

Nabiki sighed.  She recognized the tell-tale signs that Ranma was not happy about the situation.  

"You are not going to make this any easier for me, are you?" she asked the closed door.

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Ranma yawned then stretched as he lazily made his way to the table for breakfast.  He plopped down in his usual spot, nonchalantly scratched his chest then picked up his chopsticks to eat.  It was half way through his meal that he realized he sat alone since he didn't need to defend his food.  The strangeness of the vacancies halted his eating frenzy.  He glanced around the table and noticed a small note under the main plate.  Ranma decided to finish off the rest of his breakfast in case his old man showed up unexpectedly before taking a look at the paper.

In neat, pretty hand writing it said;

Ranma,

Nabiki suggested I needed help with groceries this morning so Father and Mr. Tendo volunteered.  We'll be back after 10 am.

Kasumi

Ranma felt everything fall into place.  Today was the day he was to fight Akane.

That would also explain the rather large alarm clock, Nabiki banging pots together in his room, which woke him up this morning.

As the thought ran through his mind, clearing the last of the morning fog, Ranma was finally able to note the yells and thumps of someone practicing out in the dojo.  He stood and opened the back door.  The view was slightly obscured by the partially closed dojo doors but it was still enough for Ranma to see his fiancée working on a kata.  

He watched her kicked, making note of the small flaws but overall, it was obvious that she was skilled and did contain a certain amount of grace he always said she lacked. 

Ranma continued to watch, leaning against the doorway for support, and found himself slightly impressed with Akane's movements.  She never seemed to show this much grace and preciseness whenever he saw her fighting.  Maybe he didn't give her enough credit.

Watching her practice, the perspiration lightly forming on her skin, the flush on her cheeks brought those overpowering feelings he had the other night.  Ranma touches his lips briefly.  A strange moment in time when he wished he could just kiss her again to break the spell.  He wanted to experience that feeling again, and he hoped she did too.

Electric shock snapped through Ranma's body.  When the hell did this happen?  In a 24-hour period Akane had transformed from tomboy to…to something he wanted?  That wasn't quite right.  It was more than that.  Ranma frowned.  The affection Akane showed recently was something he wanted more of.  Not the violent affection, but just having to hold her, maybe a kiss.  Ranma felt he'd do anything to get her to smile tenderly at him again.

Ranma was never sure where he stood with Akane.  His feelings were always a confusing mess, which left him with both feet in his mouth.  She was a friend, but more.  And that line of "more" was left undefined, until now, with the first mark placed long ago when Akane smiled in welcome upon his first visit to the Tendo home.

But most importantly, what would happen once she was "fixed"?  Would all this go away with the curse?

"Enjoying the view, Ranma?" A voice questioned him from behind cutting off his thoughts.

Ranma ignored the ribbing but passed the note still in hand to Nabiki, "Seems you're watching out for me lately.  Why's that?"

Nabiki gave a half smile, "Contrary to popular belief, Ranma, I do wish to see you and my little sister happy.  And with the way you guys get into trouble and fight, it'll take 20 years before anything happens.  So I'm just helping out a bit."

"Hn."  Ranma replied, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the comment.

"Well, look at the time!  Just about 9 o'clock and, by the sounds in the dojo, my sister is all warmed up and ready to kick some booty.  Yours to be exact, Ranma.  So why don't you head on out?"  Nabiki was all grins practically pushing him outdoors.

Planting his feet on both sides of the door opening, Ranma stops Nabiki from pushing him through, "Just a moment.  I've gotta do somethin' first."

Ranma made a turn to the kitchen and filled a glass with water.  Nabiki follows, glanced at the glass, then Ranma and asked, "What are you doing?"  

The tone of the question suggested that he was about to do something wrong.  "I'm gonna change so I can fight Akane instead of getting strangled by her."

"Oh, no Ranma.  It doesn't work that way."

Ranma thumped the glass down on the counter in frustration, "Ah, come on.  Ya mean I gotta fight her when she's gonna hang all over me?"

"The spell isn't active in your female form.  You, in male form, have to 'complete her greatest desire'."

"So how the heck am I suppose to fight her?"

Nabiki fisted her hips, "Look, she's not Shampoo.  She's under a love curse.  A curse that compels her to try to please you."

"But she keeps grabbin' on to me in her attempts to 'please me'."

"Did you ever ask her to stop?"

Ranma blinked twice before dropping his head, "No."

"Well, if you would have said something you might have saved yourself some neck problems.  Course she would still follow you around like a lost puppy but she'd keep her hands to herself.  Or didn't you want that, Ranma?"

Ranma felt his face flame at Nabiki's suggestion, and Nabiki continued on not really wanting an answer either way, "But we digress from the issue at hand.  My sister seems to be all warmed up and ready to go.  So…off to it!"

Ranma gave a defeated sigh and slowly made his way towards the dojo like it was his last hour of life.

"Oh, yes, Ranma.  One more thing.  This is to be a real fight.  You don't have to go all out but none of that just dodging and no return fire like you usually do with Akane."

Ranma stopped in the doorway.  "I can't do that."

"Why not?  She's a martial artist, you're a martial artist.  Isn't that what you guys do?"

"She's my fiancée.  A guy doesn't beat up his fiancée."  Ranma said a little heatedly.

"Is that all, Ranma?"

"What do you mean?"

Nabiki sighed and pulled Ranma back to the table to sit him down for a chat, "Ranma, why do you think Akane's 'greatest desire' is for you to fight her?"

Ranma shrugged and twiddle his thumbs, "I don't know."

"Well, let me give you a clue.  Remember when you first came here, oh, so long ago.  You fought against Akane in the dojo and from what I've picked up, she didn't even touch you.  It was all too easy of a victory, huh Ranma?"

Ranma shrugged, "Well, yeah, she was so slow she was easy to dodge."

"That defeat put a dent in her pride.  Akane was the best fighter before you got here.  And she got that way mostly by her own hard work since she hit double digits.  Plus the occasional fight at a competition.  Which eventually turned into a horde of hormonal driven boys…but I digress.  

"You come out of nowhere and with a hop and a tap, defeat her.  She was very impressed and hoped to learn more from you than she could on her own.

"And just as she was digesting the news at her second rate abilities, to a boy no less, Akane found out Kuno had been holding back.  And then enemies came popping up everywhere, literally.  Enemies that were stronger and better than her.  Soon no one would take her seriously in a fight.

"But on top of that, a big blow to her pride came in the cute form of your other fiancées.  Akane tried to stack up to them and found herself lacking.  Your comments didn't help her self-esteem either."

Ranma tried to defend himself, "Well, I did say those things for a reason."

"Like what?" 

"To make her work harder.  It worked for me."

"You told her she moved like a Rhino, had thick hips and no figure in an effort to get her to be a better martial artist?"  Nabiki asked incredulously.

Ranma sunk down in on himself with his face burning in embarrassment.

"I'm assuming you learned this idiotic technique from your equally stupid father."

Ranma looked, if possible, even a little more uncomfortable.  "Well, yeah."

Nabiki snorted in slight disgust, "We all know what a wonderful symbol of character he is.  I suggest you don't take future lessons on how to teach from him.  Not if you want to keep your students."

Nabiki shakes her head in disappointment.  "Never mind about that.  Ranma, that fight in there is not just a fight.  This is the only way to prove to Akane that you do respect her, maybe even care for her.  And if you do have a shred of emotion for my sister, I suggest you fight for real.  Don't play with her or her mind.  Take her seriously."

Ranma was still frowning in what Nabiki took as doubt while he thumbed a mark in the table.

"You still don't understand why, do you?"  Nabiki asked exasperated.  "Akane wants your approval.  She wants to hear she's not hopeless or worthless.  And the way her mind has set the bar to decide her self-worth is through your approval."

Ranma's head snapped up, "My approval?  Why the heck would she want that?"

Nabiki really wanted to smack him around.  The boy was just being plain difficult.  "She wants your approval, to be a respected equal, and share something you love to do with you because she likes you, you idiot!"

Ranma's eyes widened as his jaw dropped, "Did she tell you that?"

"Well, not in those exact words, but yes."  Nabiki wasn't about to mention all the names Akane used to describe him the other day.  After the initial anger had subsided, they had a very long talk.  During which Akane wouldn't admit her feelings but the answers Nabiki was able to draw out of her proved enough where her little sister's heart lay.

The deep violet eyes of Ranma lit with wonder and shock but quickly shifted gears into worry as he bit his lip.  "But she could get hurt…."

"It's the only way.  Besides, Mr. 'man among men', if you're even half as good as you say you are, she might be sore tomorrow, but not hurt."

A moment passed before Nabiki saw a glint of light flicker into Ranma's eyes that had been missing.  It gave a clear message that Ranma had finally accepted his mission.

With a lopsided grin, Nabiki asked, "So you gonna kick my sister's ass, or not?"

Ranma returned with a half-smile, "To get Akane back to normal, I'll fight."

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Akane sat in the dojo.  Taking a deep breath, she tried to keep her mind focus before the fight.  It was impossible with all the thoughts that plagued her.

Nabiki had told her last night to go to the dojo early morning and be prepared for a fight.  Akane wasn't certain what exactly was going to happen but she had an idea.  There was probably some crazy pressure points in inconvenient locations on her body.  Places she would defend herself against anyone touching.  And Ranma was the sad volunteer for the job.  However, if that was the case, Akane wouldn't put up a fight.  Not this time.  Anything to be rid of this curse.

Akane released a deep breath.  How does Ranma live with this?  Granted only his body changes but at the same time, people treat him differently when he's in female form.  Akane never realized how horrible this could be.  How frightening and mortifying.

Tears pricked at her eyes.  Ranma must be completed disgusted by her.  She saw the fear in his eyes last night at Nabiki's door.  It tore through her at the sight.  She had hoped things would get better between them over time, not worse.

Her thoughts rolled on and a shaky smile formed on Akane's lips.  She had such fun during their time together when they fought side-by-side.  At the skating competition, how handsome he looked in his Chinese garb and how well they teamed up.  When they, working together, defeated Natsumi and Noriko to gain back their right as heirs to the dojo.  What great times those were.

But once the fight was over, that was it.  Ranma would never work with her outside of some dire situation.  It left Akane confused and a bit hurt.  Akane knew Ranma was a better martial artist, yet he would never train her.  Did he feel she could never improve herself, the hopelessly slow, uncute tomboy?  That she was not worth his time to teach new techniques as she did not have enough skill to learn them?

How could the two of them be heirs to the dojo if he did not respect her as a martial artist?

Akane swallowed her self-pity as she heard footsteps enter the dojo.

Nabiki's head popped around the corner and Akane almost sighed with relief.  "Ah, Akane.  Are you all set?"

Akane nodded her head even though all her meditation got her more wound up than relaxed, "What's going to happen, Nabiki?  You haven't told me anything."

"Well, it's real simple.  You and Ranma are going to fight."

"Fight?"

"Yeah, you know, that thing martial artists do."

"Hey, Nabiki can I come in yet?" Ranma's impatient voice came from outside.

"Just give me a moment, I'll let you know!"  Nabiki turned back to Akane.  "Now don't give me that incredulous look.  I swear on my name this will cure you right up.  I just wanted to warn you that Ranma won't hold back so be prepared."

Akane shifted uncomfortably, "Nabiki, Ranma's never really fought against me before.  Well, not just the regular normal me.  I guess, I'm not quite normal right now but still I'm not…"

Nabiki grabbed Akane's shoulder to halt her babbling, "Look, Akane.  I know what you're trying to say.  But, I think you'll be surprised at the change in Ranma."

"Oh, God.  You had him drink from the bowl, too?" Akane's eyes were wide with shock.

"No.  And don't think I didn't consider it because you know Dad and Mr. Saotome did.  Luckily for you two, I took care of that little problem.

"This is an all natural change, brought about by a little guidance from me.  He is quite willing to come in here and have a little battle royal against you."

"He is?"  Akane asked with a growing hope.

"Yupe."

"And this will cure me?"

"Well, you've been wanting to spar with him, right?"

"Yes."

"And you'd like to learn from him, true?"

"Yes."

"And you like it when he doesn't wear a shirt?"

"Ye…Nabiki!"  Akane frowned fiercely. 

Nabiki chuckled at her sister's slip, "Ah, then everything will be fine.  Try your best and good luck."

Nabiki quickly helped her sister up from her sitting position, then turned to call for Ranma.

"Nabiki," whispered Akane as she heard the approaching footsteps, "Do I need to win to break the curse?"

"My little sister, if you both fight, you'll both win no matter the outcome."  Nabiki gave Akane her mysterious smile of I-know-and-I'm-not-going-to-tell.

Confused at the statement, Akane could only watch as Ranma stepped into the dojo.  She felt the pull of the magic as her eyes met his.  And for that brief moment before she lost herself, determined violet eyes which spoke of something more took her breath away.

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Ranma stepped into the dojo.  His eyes immediately found Akane's and he saw a flicker of hope before the curse took over.

"Ranma-sweetie!" Akane cried, running to wrap him up in her arms.

"Akane, stop right there!" Ranma yelled at her.

Confused at his request but wishing to please him, Akane stopped on the spot.  "What is it, Ranma-sweetie?"

Ranma drew a breath of relief.  If only his other fiancees were as easy to stop.  "I want to spar with you."

Akane blinked twice then shrugged, "OK, Ranma-sweetie, we can spar."

Ranma's eyebrows rose a little.  This was too easy.  Something wasn't right.  Nothing he was ever involved in went this well.  He glanced over at Nabiki, who had taken a seat against the wall.  She shrugged at him then suggested with her eyes to pay attention to Akane.

Akane shifted her legs into a back stance and settled herself in preparation for his attack.  Ranma moved into a comfortable defensive position fully expecting Akane to attack first, as she always did before.  Usually though she was angry.

Both martial artists sized up their opponent.  When neither made a move, they re-sized their opponent and their plans for counter-attack.  After a minute had passed with no action from the two combatants, Nabiki sighed and spoke up. 

"For there to be a fight, SOMEONE has to attack," she stared at Ranma, forcing him to take responsibility.

Ranma grounded his teeth at the obvious fact, "Fine."

He launched into a slow and very basic straight punch.  A first year student punch that could be stopped by the very first block ever learned.  Which was why he was very surprised when his fist made it past Akane's defenses and his gut took a dive when he connected with her upper chest sending Akane to the floor.

Ranma pulled back his arm and stood still, bewildered by what had happened, "Why the hell didn't you block that?  I know you could have blocked that.  Hell, Kuno could have blocked it, why...?"

Akane stood up, brushing herself off.  With a grin on her face she replied, "Because I know you like to win, Ranma-sweetie.  It makes you feel good."

"That's not a win!  That's taking a fall!" Ranma yelled wanting to smack away the glaring blush of hearts on her forehead.

"Listen to me, Akane, I want you to put your all into this.  It's important to me...to...I..."  Ranma's eyes travelled to the floor as he searched for the courage and the right words to tell Akane why.  His focus was so intense that he missed her reply.

"OK."

A mid-kick gut buster barely missed Ranma as he leapt out of range from Akane's sudden attack.  She followed him with a round of high punches and kicks ending with a low sweep.  Ranma dodge them all, backflipped onto the wall and pushed himself up and over Akane's head to land on the opposite side of the dojo.

Ranma set up his defenses waiting for Akane to continue.  However, Akane made no further move and just stared at Ranma.  When he did not attack her, her eyes dimmed with disappointed.

"If you don't want to fight, Ranma-sweetie, we can go do something else," Akane offered.

"There's nothing more important to me than right here and now," Ranma replied before leaping towards Akane to resume the fight.

Even though Nabiki was not a martial artist, she could tell that the rhythm of the fighting match before her was different than one she had ever seen before.  Ranma became fully focused on Akane and her skill level but did not yell out childish comments like usual.  Instead, he would find loopholes in Akane's blocks, break through with a tap to show her the problem, and then tell her how to correct it while continuing to fight. 

Akane on her part was fast and confident.  Ranma had started the match fairly slow, at least slow enough that Nabiki could keep up the movements.  But as time passed, Ranma slowly sped up.  Both fighters became a blur of motion for short periods of time.  Nabiki had never seen her sister perform the art with such skill.

Nabiki yawned as the fight continued.  /Did these two ever get tired?/  Neither seemed to be giving up and frankly, she was hungry.  Deciding her part of the job was finished, Nabiki stood and left the dojo.  

The sun was high in the sky before there was another long silent pause in the dojo.  Both Ranma and Akane stared at each other, catching their breaths and determining their next plan of attack.

Frustration was building in Ranma.  Nabiki had given him no direction on how to break the curse other than to fight Akane.  He had been doing that for a couple of hours now and she still had that damn mark on her forehead.  What the hell else was he supposed to do?  He had knocked her down several times, but not to the point where Akane would get hurt.  Did he have to knock her out?

Frowning at the task before him, Ranma didn't think he could knock Akane unconscious without hurting her but he could minimize the damage by diverting her attention and catching her off guard.

And the best way to do that, Ranma had found over many years of experience, is to start talking, "Geez, Akane, you're really pretty good.  I hardly get a chance to see you really fight.  I can tell you've got some great skills.  I'm surprised you haven't given Ukyou or Shampoo a run for their money."

"Really?  Ukyou and Shampoo?

Ranma saw Akane's body relax, going off guard.  But at the same time there was a change to the tone of her voice.  He drew his gaze to her eyes and saw the growing pride lined with happiness.  Seeing the look in her eyes, he couldn't help but continue on.

"Yeah, I mean, you definitely have power in your moves, ya just have to work on some speed and get out the repetitions in your style and you'd be right up there with the heavy hitters."

A smile grew on Akane's lips, "You think so?"

"Sure," Ranma swore the hearts on Akane's forehead pulsed.  Perhaps whatever he was saying was some key ingredient in breaking the curse.  It couldn't hurt to tell her the truth of what he felt.  "You're a good fighter, Akane, and with some practice you could be a great martial artist."

Tears welled up in Akane's eyes, the mark on her forehead grew bright, too strong for Ranma to watch.  Akane felt warmth from her heart at Ranma's comments engulf her body.  She blinked rapidly as the world slipped away but before the darkness completely claimed her, she felt arms hold her to a firm body.

*thank you, ranma*

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Akane watched the night skyline, thinking of all that happened today.  Ranma fought her in the dojo.  A real fight.  Most of which was a blur except when he started to say all those nice things about her.  How she could be a great martial artist.

She felt so happy to hear those words.  Ranma praising her skills, respecting her abilities.  It had fulfilled the magic's requirements and broke the curse.  But several hours later, doubt filled her.

Did Ranma really mean it?  Or was he just saying that to break the spell?  At the time she thought he did, but that might have been partly because of the curse bending her mind.  With everything back to normal, would Ranma still think she was woefully lacking in martial art skills?

Akane jumped as she heard the door slide open but did not turn to face her interrupter. 

Ranma stared at Akane's back.  Something was still not right with the tomboy.  Granted, it was a strange change in her personality over the last two days from violent to clingy to quiet.  But he knew something wasn't right if she wasn't back to violent yet.

"Akane." Ranma said as he stepped outside and shut the door behind him.

Akane glanced his way and acknowledged his presence, "Ranma."

Stepping up to Akane's side, Ranma kept his focus on the stars as did Akane.  He knew he had to say something but couldn't for the life of him figure out exactly what that was.

Fortunately, Akane broke the silence before it became uncomfortable, "Thank you for breaking that curse, Ranma.  I really do appreciate it."

"Ah, it was nothin', Akane."  Ranma felt a blush grow on his cheeks and willed it to go away.

Akane smiled a little, "It must have made you feel better to bop me around a little bit after I was strangling you all the time."

Ranma became very still, "No, I didn't like it at all."

"Oh…."  Akane felt sharp disappoint at that comment.  Though she couldn't remember much of the fight she knew she had fun and hoped he did too, but obviously he felt differently.

Well, if Ranma didn't feel the same as her, then how did he feel?  Akane decided it was time to find out.  "Ranma, can I ask you something?"

Ranma shrugged, "Sure, go ahead."

"Why..." Akane stuffed her emotions back down to keep her voice strong, "Why don't you spar with me?  I mean, on a regular basis.  Am I that bad?"

Ranma looked at her a bit incredulously, "That's not why.  I already told ya, I think you're pretty good."

"Then why?" asked Akane.

Ranma was silent for a moment before answering, "Well, for one thing I don't want to hurt ya and to get better you will get hurt.  But more than that I didn't want to teach you anything new.  My life is crazy with everyone and their brother challenging me.  If I started to teach you some new moves, those kind of people would come challenge you too."

Akane felt a little singing of warmth run through her heart at his caring nature before she smacked him hard on the head, "You idiot.  My life is already crazy with you here.  I'd rather be able to defend myself than have you worry about what's happening to me."

Rubbing his now sore head, Ranma mulled over what Akane said.  He had to admit, she did have a point.  It'd be nice if he didn't have to go chasing after another stupid prince to rescue her.  "Well, I guess there's some fine tuning we could work on for your blocks.  And we could maybe work on getting your speed up..."

Ranma smiled as the idea seemed to take a firmer hold in his mind, "I mean, we are the heirs of the school and I could really use some help on teaching style since my old man was no help.  If you want to practice together."

Akane blossomed into a hug smile.  It stopped Ranma's world for a split second.  

"Oh, I'd love to Ranma!" Akane grabbed Ranma in a big hug in her happiness and excitement.

Akane felt Ranma stiffen under her touch and immediately dropped her arms and stepped back.  How could she possibly forget what she had been doing to him over the last two days?  He must be completely disgusted by her "familiar" behavior by now.

"I'm sorry, Ranma, I didn't mean..."  Akane dropped her eyes to the ground, not able to meet him eye to eye.

Ranma frowned at himself, knowing that his instinctive reaction had hurt her.  So he pulled her into a soft hug, lips near her ear, one hand tangled in her hair the other pressed lightly against her back "I don't mind if you don't mind, Akane."

Akane wraps her arms around him slowly with a soft smile and her head on his chest.  She could hear his heart beating fast but strong.  "I don't mind, Ranma."

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Author's notes:  That's it!  The story is complete but I still need to polish it up a bit.  I've given thoughts to a sequel (what really happened with the mysterious pink bowl?  Or there's much more fun to come!) but I have so many other fanfics to work on that it's on the back burner for now.

Thanks for reading!  (And a special thanks to D-chan for pre-reading!)

And if you get the chance, drop me a line!  


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